2024 Volume 22 Issue 2 Pages 40-46
The Noto Peninsula Earthquake that struck on January 1st, 2024, had a strong impact on the whole of Japan. As it occurred on New Year's Day, it was difficult to respond immediately. Then, on September 21st, 2024, a linear precipitation zone occurred in the Okunoto region, and heavy rain once again hit Noto. Houses were flooded, and even the temporary housing was flooded. The damage was immense, continuing from the Noto earthquake to the Noto torrential rains. In the Noto earthquake, the Disaster Psychiatric Assistance Team（DPAT）was dispatched from the early, acute phase in January, and was involved in mental and psychological support. It is necessary to build a system to relieve the mental distress of disaster victims from the acute phase of the disaster to the medium- to long-term. In addition, the supporters who were helping the disaster victims were also strongly affected by traumatic stress, so there was a need for a system and operation to support the supporters. We thought that, in addition to general psychiatric clinical skills, psychiatrists involved in disaster response should also have prior learning in the following areas: outreach, inter-professional collaboration, team building, relaxation skills, infectious disease response, occupational mental health response skills, and an understanding of governmental systems.
